Young actors of the Starlight Children’s Theatre Co. have been busy for weeks preparing their summer production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s comic operetta, “Iolanthe,” which opens in Las Cruces on Friday, July 10. Along the way, they have memorized thousands of words and a great deal of music, learned to understand British English from the 19th century, found out about the history of Parliament and the British class system, and engaged in the myriad details of putting on a show. “In every aspect of our theatre, we plan for the highest quality,” says Dr.

The ukulele has enjoyed great popularity since it was developed in Hawaii in the 19th century, and Las Cruces now boasts its own ensemble, the Las Cruces Ukes. Musicians Cheryl Fallstead and Bob Hull – with ukulele in hand – came to the KRWG studios to talk about a special weekend coming up with visiting ukulele artist Mark Baker, who will perform a concert with the group and teach two workshops in Las Cruces. Fallstead and Hull also talked about the history of the ukulele and the origins of their local ensemble, and Hull provided some musical entertainment.

Fri May 15, 2015

Just a few weeks before its spring concert, the New Horizons Symphony Orchestra lost one of its board members and musicians, horn player Larry Jonas, in a tragic motorcycle accident. The concert will take place on Sunday, May 17, and will be dedicated to the memory of Jonas, who died on April 30. Conductor Marianna Gabbi and fellow horn player Cora Patterson came to the KRWG studios to talk about the loss of their friend and colleague, and the music the orchestra will play, including Beethoven’s 8th symphony, an overture by Carl Marian von Weber, and waltzes by Johann Strauss, Jr.

Thu May 14, 2015

Some forty singers from the NMSU choirs have been rehearsing for several months for a tour to Germany and Prague at the end of May. Two of the singers, NMSU junior Teresa Acosta, and community member and pianist Leah Houpt, joined Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin – who will also be on the tour – to talk about the music they’ll perform, the places they will visit, and a “preview concert” that takes place at San Albino in Mesilla on Sunday, May 17.

Intermezzo

5:11 pm

Fri May 1, 2015

Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 “pushed the boundaries of virtuosity in its time,” says pianist Natasha Paremski, noting that it was originally considered unplayable but went on to become one of his most famous and beloved works. The Russian-born pianist, who has lived in the United States since she was eight, will perform the work this weekend with the Las Cruces Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Lonnie Klein. Paremski came to the KRWG studios to talk with Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin about Tchaikovsky, her career, how she handles nerves on stage, and more.

Thu April 23, 2015

Sir Michael Tippett wrote his oratorio, “A Child of Our Time,” as a profound protest against the persecution of Jews during World War II, and the persecution of African-Americans in this country (the text declares, “pogroms in the East, lynchings in the West”). Conductor David Klement and baritone Antonio Quaranta, who will perform the work this weekend with the NMSU Choirs, say that Tippett’s powerful message about suffering and hope continues to resonate with listeners in our own day.

Intermezzo

5:38 pm

Fri April 17, 2015

A rarely-heard piece of music for string quartet and tuba by jazz composer and musician Manny Albam is on the program this Sunday in a concert performed by La Catrina Quartet and tuba professor James Shearer. The group has performed Albam’s “Quintet for Tuba and Strings” before, but wanted to perform it for an audience again in advance of recording it. Violinist Daniel Vega-Albela came to talk with Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin about the concert, providing background on the Albam piece, as well as an early string trio by Beethoven and the famous String Quartet by Maurice Ravel.

Thu March 12, 2015

The New Horizons Symphony Orchestra will feature NMSU freshman pianist Joseph Seth Zamora as the winner of its first Young Artist Competition at their March 15 concert, and the piece he’ll perform – the Piano Concerto in G Major by Maurice Ravel – was described in one word by conductor Marianna Gabbi and concertmaster Gordon Butler: “difficult!” Gabbi and Butler came to KRWG to talk with Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin about the competition, the concert program, and the rewards of performing with the community orchestra.

Harmonica virtuoso Robert Bonfiglio has played hundreds of concerts in all the great concert halls of the world, but to this day, his love for the instrument and the music takes him back to his earliest days. “It brings me back to my childhood. They call it ‘playing’ music, they don’t call it ‘working’ music. When it becomes ‘work,’ I’m not doing it anymore,” he said in an interview with Las Cruces Symphony Orchestra conductor Lonnie Klein, and KRWG’s Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin.

Thu March 5, 2015

Bela Bartok frequently incorporated native folk melodies into his music, but he was also inspired by the Hungarian language and countryside, and his desire to mend the relationship between Hungary and both Romania and Turkey. Violinist Roberta Arruda, who lived in Hungary and speaks fluent Hungarian, and pianist Laura Spitzer, joined Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin in a conversation about the music of Bartok, Zoltan Kodaly, Ravel and other composers they will perform in a recital on Monday, March 9, 2015.

Drawing on talent from throughout the region and beyond, the El Paso Opera will showcase seven singers from their Young Artists Program in the premiere of “A Grand Night for Singing!,” an evening of great American songs followed by champagne and dessert.

Conductor Dr. William Clark says he likes to stretch the musicians of the Mesilla Valley Concert Band, and their March 1st concert includes a wide range of pieces that will do just that. From Tchaikovsky and Holst to contemporary composers Roger Cichy and Tom Dossett, and, as always, a Sousa march, the concert will showcase the many talents of the ensemble, particularly the trombones – who will play Meredith Willson’s “76 Trombones,” transcribed by local trombonist Tom Wildman. Clark came to the KRWG studios to talk with Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin about the concert.

Intermezzo

4:30 pm

Fri February 20, 2015

Cellist Evan Drachman, following in the footsteps of his famous grandfather, Gregor Piatigorsky, has made it his life’s work to bring the highest quality classical music to audiences who might not otherwise hear it: in schools, prisons, retirement communities, houses of worship, community centers, and other non-traditional venues. He founded the Piatigorsky Foundation 25 years ago to make music part of daily life across the United States.

Thu February 19, 2015

Kurt Weill’s enormous contributions to music and musical theater will come to life in two performances of “From Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill,” the show that traces his life from Germany in the 1920s, where his legendary collaborations with Bertolt Brecht were first staged, through the many Broadway shows that he went on to write after fleeing Nazi Germany for the United States.

Intermezzo

4:33 pm

Thu February 19, 2015

The late guitarist and composer Philip Rosheger said that his music came to him fully composed during his night-time dreams, and his task was to write the music down as soon as he woke up. He and others who have had similar experiences call the process “dreamscaping.” El Paso-based guitarist Eric Slavin has dedicated his new CD – called “Dreamscape” – to his friend Rosheger, who died in late 2013.

Intermezzo

3:50 pm

Fri January 30, 2015

Julian Gargiulo calls his concerts “Piano Conversations” because in addition to playing music, he picks up the microphone and verbally interacts with the audience, sometimes bringing them up to the stage and always entertaining them. “You should come expecting to have a good time and to be interacting with everything that is going on,” Gargiulo says in this phone interview with Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin, while he was in an airport between flights.

Intermezzo

4:23 pm

Wed December 10, 2014

Violinist Roberta Arruda lived in several countries in her youth, including Brazil, France, the US and Hungary, and at 21, toured ten other countries with the Youth Orchestra of the Americas, playing with conductor Gustavo Dudamel. Now Arruda brings that international background to her life and work in New Mexico, where she is a member of La Catrina Quartet and where she has performed extensively as a soloist, in chamber ensembles and in orchestras.

Intermezzo

5:22 pm

Fri December 5, 2014

Pianist Antonio di Cristofano says “one must enter into the mind of Beethoven” when playing his music, which is what he will do when he performs the Piano Concerto No. 5, the “Emperor Concerto” with the Las Cruces Symphony Orchestra this weekend. The Italian piano soloist joined Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin in a wide-ranging conversation about Beethoven’s monumental concerto, Di Cristofano’s teacher, the late Antonio Bacchelli, his strong interest in the Russian composer Alexander Scriabin, and some of the differences in the training of pianists in Russia and Italy.

Usually percussion in a choral concert will accompany the singers, perhaps with some bold rhythms but mostly in the background. Contemporary composer Gene Koshinski turns that convention on its head in a composition that will be performed this weekend by the combined NMSU choirs under the direction of David Klement. Marimba soloist and NMSU faculty member Mike Armendariz and Klement discuss the work with Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin, pointing out how the choir is in the background singing percussive rhythms and sounds, while Armendariz makes the expressive marimba sing.

Thu October 30, 2014

Opera music presents unique challenges not just for the singers but also for the orchestra, and the members of the community-based New Horizons Orchestra have been working hard to prepare for this weekend’s “An Afternoon at the Opera,” says conductor Dr. Marianna Gabbi. “There will be beautiful moments -- like life!” she promises in this interview with Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin. The program includes music by Rossini, Wagner, Bizet and Strauss, including solo arias sung by mezzo-soprano Stephanie Sanchez, a NMSU graduate who recently joined the Houston Grand Opera.

Intermezzo

5:30 pm

Thu October 16, 2014

Concert soloist Lindsay Deutsch likens playing the violin to being a gymnast on a balance beam who is asked to “cry, or also get very angry, or be very joyful,” without falling off. In this interview with Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin, Deutsch talks about the challenge of keeping the music fresh and new, despite hundreds of hours of practice time, and her particular interest in awakening a love of classical music in young people-- through concerts and a special web page for kids. She was in Las Cruces to perform with the Las Cruces Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Lonnie Klein.

Arts/Life

6:21 pm

Sat October 11, 2014

Teri Ehresman (left), president of the National Federation of Press Women, presents KRWG-FM host Leora Zeitlin (right) with her “1st Place in Radio/Television Interviews” award in Greenville, South Carolina.

Leora Zeitlin, long-time classical music host at KRWG-FM, was nationally recognized recently for her interviews with musicians on her program, “Intermezzo.” The National Federation of Press Women awarded her “First Place in Radio/Television Interviews” in its annual communications contest. Zeitlin received the award at the NFPW’s national conference on September 6, in Greenville, South Carolina.

Intermezzo

5:27 pm

Fri October 3, 2014

“Whatever you do, do it at the highest level,” says conductor Dr. William Clark, recounting advice that he’s been giving students and musicians throughout his career. The conductor of the Mesilla Valley Concert Band returns to the podium this fall to lead the band in a concert featuring music by Robert Russell Bennett, Mark Camphouse, Leonard Bernstein, and as always, John Philip Sousa. Clark joined Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin to talk about the composers, the unusual pieces he’s chosen by them, and how long it takes to learn a piece before he begins rehearsing the 102-member ensemble.

6:07 pm

Thu October 2, 2014

Renaissance costumes, humor, dancing, food and most of all music, will be showcased at a grand “King’s Feast” that will entertain plenty of lords and ladies in Las Cruces this weekend. Presented by NMSU’s University Singers and Dancers Unlimited, the event is a fundraiser for a trip the chorus plans to take to Germany and the Czech Republic in the spring. Conductor and Director of Choral Activities David Klement and two students, Zel Hartman and Hannah Hopper, came to talk with Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin about the festivities.

Fri September 12, 2014

Born into a musical family, Sujari Britt began studying violin, piano and guitar before settling at the age of four on the instrument that has made her famous: the cello. The 13-year-old prodigy has played at the White House, is in demand as a soloist with orchestras, and has just started college classes at the Manhattan School of Music. She visited Las Cruces to perform the opening concert of the 2014-2015 season with the Las Cruces Symphony Orchestra.

Intermezzo

6:02 pm

Fri May 9, 2014

Though Mozart was one of the foremost pianists of his time and a virtuoso violinist, another instrument he truly adored was viola. He wrote his Sinfonia Concertante to showcase both violin and viola, but gave special attention to the lower instrument, which he himself most likely played in performances of the piece. Daniel Vega-Albela, first violinist and founding member of La Catrina Quartet, talks with KRWG’s Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin about the work, which he and violist Jorge Martinez will perform this weekend in concert with the New Horizons Symphony Orchestra.

5:24 pm

Thu April 24, 2014

The “Stabat Mater” is an ancient text that has been set to music numerous times across the centuries, including by the brilliant 20th-century composer Francis Poulenc, who wrote it after a mid-life religious awakening. David Klement, conductor of NMSU’s University Singers and Masterworks Chorus came to the KRWG studios to talk with Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin about this massive and beautiful work by Poulenc, who has long been one of his favorite composers.

5:49 pm

Fri April 18, 2014

When she was 16 years old and studying at the Central Conservatory in Beijing, violinist Qing Li was selected to play in a master class with the renowned violinist Berl Senofsky, who then invited her to study with him at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore. Qing Li has been there ever since, performing as Principal Second Violinist in the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and maintaining a busy career as a soloist and chamber musician.

At every concert he performs in, trumpet virtuoso Ryan Anthony strives to connect deeply with his audience and bring them the best he can, whether as a soloist, in a chamber group – such as the acclaimed Canadian Brass, which whom he performed for several years – or as principal trumpet player for the Dallas Symphony.

Intermezzo

5:02 pm

Thu March 27, 2014

One of the most popular operas of all time, “La Boheme” takes us into the lives of a group of poor Paris artists in the 19th century, but for soprano Jessica Medoff, the characters are not so different from young artistic people today. “Puccini breathed his life into these people. They’re not just notes on a page; they’re humans,” she says in this interview with Intermezzo host Leora Zeitlin.